Chaparral girls basketball coach Brian Porth likes his team to press. It served the No. 3 Firebirds well Monday night iif only for a quarter or a little better in a matchup with No. 2 Sierrra Linda in the 5A power rankings the first quarter. Hot perimeter shooting  led to a 27-21 Chaparral lead despite giving up a few easy buckets on press breaks.

The press wasn't able to return much again until the fourth quarter when Chaparral began scoring again and forcing mistakes. A 12-0 run to begin the fourth quarter turned a six-point deficit to a six-point lead ending in a 66-59 victory over Sierra Linda.

Chaparral (24-3 overall, 16-1 power-ranking games) won its 17th game in a row with its last loss in early December to Highland. The best the win might do in the rankings is flip Chaparral and Sierra Linda (24-2, 16-2 prg). But it served as a good warm-up in competion for Chaparral, which closes the regular season Tuesday night on the road vs. region rival Arcadia. Sierra Linda had its 10-game wining streak snapped. It's only other loss is to No. 1 Mesquite a month ago. This game closed the regular season for Sierra Linda.

"I like the way our season is ending with Sierra Linda and Arcadia," Porth said. "The atmosphere tonight was great. It was a playoff atmosphere. I was glad to see us get back in our press. I have a great belief in it. I have to have all five players believing in it to work."

It was worked as the fourth period opened as Chaparral was struggling to hang in after Sierra Linda outscored the Firebirds 27-15 in the middle two periods. 

Chaparral helped force six turnovers over the first two and half minutes of the final period that saw Sierra Linda get off one shot attempt in that span. The turnovers and offensive execution by Chaparral turned the score to 54-48 with 5:22 to play.

Chaparral took the lead for good (51-48) on a three-point field goal by Summer Menke. Menke scored eight of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter. Senior guard Kylie Fisher, a club soccer player (signed with Northwestern) except during basketball season, made 10 of 12 free throws over the last six minutes to help salt away the win.

Jenay Bojorquez and Janae Gonzales, Sierra Linda's top scorers, each netted 17 points. Junior Lonntiay Williams  added 12 points, but was limited to two points in the second half. Gonzales scored 12 of her 17 points in the middle quarters when Sierra Linda dominated play.

Chaparral got a lift in its explosive first quarter from two reservers -- Georgi Pregulman and Anna Ostlie. They each sank two threes to offset the absence of leading scorer Maddie Vick, who sat out a good chunk of the first period and early second with two fouls. Vick averaging 21 points a game, fouled out with four minutes left and only nine points.

 Chaparral wins the 5A Northeast Region title outright if it defeats Arcadia on Tuesday. A loss and it shares the title the Titans, a top-five team in the 5A power rankkings..